If it is for a game with spectators then it is missing things like turnstile operators, stewards etc. That would be a minimum. To make money then there would also need to be hospitality, shop and ticket office staff to also add in which would probably push the total well over 300.

If it is for a match without spectators then I would think that things like Stadium Announcer/Big Screen aren't needed and some of the things like Administration, Stadium Operations, Paramedics are overstated.

Saintly PursuitIt's a bit of a strange list.
If it is for a game with spectators then it is missing things like turnstile operators, stewards etc. That would be a minimum. To make money then there would also need to be hospitality, shop and ticket office staff to also add in which would probably push the total well over 300.

If it is for a match without spectators then I would think that things like Stadium Announcer/Big Screen aren't needed and some of the things like Administration, Stadium Operations, Paramedics are overstated.

I understand that this is for matches in empty stadiums.

At a guess, for the second part of your post...

Big screen is for the ref for TMO descisions
Stadium announcer more for emergency announcements than anything else
Administration/Stadium Operations would be the IT guys, catering, kitmen, that kind of thing
Paramedics, you would need more than one crew on site if the first one has to cart somebody off to the hospital

I fully understand why they are looking at this but purely from my own point of view I am totally underwhelmed by the prospect of watching a game from an empty stadium either from the comfort of my sofa or from the slightly surreal prospect of a back car park.

The tv side is massively underplayed in the list. You have the pitch side crew, OB van and Match Director listed but there are far more people involved than that.

Inside an OB truck during a ‘normal’ match could be up to 30 people easily, so I appreciate if coverage is slimmed down those numbers will be too, but not by much. For me this is where there is a real issue as it will be impossible to socially distance yourself inside the truck.

I think I read/heard somewhere that it takes about 256 - 300 people to put on a televised footy match without spectators, so they’re possibly a bit low in their estimation.

Saint.KennethThe tv side is massively underplayed in the list. You have the pitch side crew, OB van and Match Director listed but there are far more people involved than that.
Inside an OB truck during a ‘normal’ match could be up to 30 people easily, so I appreciate if coverage is slimmed down those numbers will be too, but not by much. For me this is where there is a real issue as it will be impossible to socially distance yourself inside the truck.

I think I read/heard somewhere that it takes about 256 - 300 people to put on a televised footy match without spectators, so they’re possibly a bit low in their estimation.

One thing I know Sky are doing with football is that they have all the league grounds connected over fast fibre back to base and the capacity is such that they are now starting to do production at base. They can thus have the same director et al do more than one game during a day - plus there is no additional expenses to get them, the truck etc to the grounds. I presume the set up is also significantly simpler.

Aberavon WizardI fully understand why they are looking at this but purely from my own point of view I am totally underwhelmed by the prospect of watching a game from an empty stadium either from the comfort of my sofa or from the slightly surreal prospect of a back car park.

In sport the "audience" is part of the experience. Whilst I agree that it won't be the same I would hope that the TV could be a little creative in providing supporter noise otherwise they are going to have to be extra careful about the language that they are almost inevitably going tp pick up from the players.

One thing I know Sky are doing with football is that they have all the league grounds connected over fast fibre back to base and the capacity is such that they are now starting to do production at base. They can thus have the same director et al do more than one game during a day - plus there is no additional expenses to get them, the truck etc to the grounds. I presume the set up is also significantly simpler.

I can see this pushing that process down to the PRL.

You are quite right Tim, NEP UK who provide the broadcast services for Sky's football, do indeed have two trucks, Kore and Juno, that cover the Championship Football in the way that you describe. They are much smaller trucks than a 'normal' OB truck but still have around 10 people inside an even smaller space! Added to those numbers are still the camera crew, sound crew, generator crew and others, all based at the ground, so easily around 30 crew in total (added to that are the commentators and reporters and even the onscreen talent if there is a studio at the ground). It's only the majority of the Sky staff, roles like Director, PA, Vision Mixer, Producers and VT that are now based at Sky, hence why the truck can be smaller. The Premier League is a much larger beast and is covered in the 'normal' way with the entire programme being made onsite and being sent by fibre and uplink back to the broadcaster as a complete package.

With regards to rugby, Telegenic who provide the broadcast services to BT Sport Rugby (big white trucks parked up near the entrance to FG from the car park) don't have any remote production trucks, where the production staff are back at base. I'm pretty certain that there isn't the fibre connectivity from the grounds either for such a way of working.

Where an OB firm is contracted by the broadcasters to provide technical facilities, it makes sense for the people working for the OB company to be onsite as that's where the equipment is and where things have to be setup and fixed should things go wrong.

There's discussion in football about playing in empty neutral venues, which some are potentially objecting to because it takes away the home-field advantage and therefore actually disadvantages those due to play "home" games.
Would an empty FG give much advantage to Saints? I mean, the ref would be missing thousands of assistants!

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